A delegation of US defense contractors and a former senior leader of the US Marine Corps yesterday pledged the beginning of deeper cooperation with Taiwan.
Taiwan has faced increasing pressure from China in the years since Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was elected president. China has poached several of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and sent military planes and ships toward the nation on a near-daily basis. It also held large-scale drills modeling a blockade and simulated strikes on important targets in Taiwan twice within the past year.
Speaking at a public forum in Taipei, former US Marine Corps Forces Pacific commander Steven Rudder said the US wants to be part of the defense capabilities of Taiwan and bolster its supply chain resilience.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
He also emphasized how critical the nation’s position is for security.
“For the Asia-Pacific, I would offer there’s not another more important area in the world to maintain peace,” Rudder told the Taiwan-US Defense Industry Forum. “So [when] you hear ‘a free and open Indo-Pacific,’ this is a small part of ensuring that shared vision remains intact.”
“We want to be part of the self-defense capabilities of Taiwan,” he said.
Rudder said the visit was within the US’ multiple agreements with China and laws related to Taiwan, such as the Taiwan Relations Act, which requires Washington to ensure Taiwan can defend itself.
The legislation was enacted decades ago when the US first recognized China and broke off official diplomatic relations with Taipei.
The event was cohosted by trade groups from Taiwan and the US as the public-facing portion of the defense contractors’ visit.
Although it was unclear whether the groups would sign specific deals, Chinese-language media reported that the US was looking at cooperation in production of certain products.
Part of that cooperation would seek to ensure that both sides can work together to use the weapons systems Taiwan bought alongside the nation’s self-produced defense capabilities.
Washington is Taiwan’s largest unofficial partner and the supplier of a vast majority of is defense purchases.
“I’ll say it very simply: The endgame is joint interoperability,” Rudder said.
A group of about 20 people protested outside.
“American warmongers are a scourge on Taiwan,” one of their banners read.
“They sell all sorts of outdated ammunition to Taiwan and make tens of billions of US dollars from Taiwan every year,” said David T. Chien (錢達), vice chair of the Blue Sky Action Alliance, which supports unification with China.
From 6am on Tuesday to 6am yesterday, 27 Chinese warplanes and a drone flew toward Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defense said.
The drone encircled Taiwan proper, while seven Chinese navy vessels sailed the waters close by, the ministry said.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to